It is notorious that the Reformation, which was begun in Henry the Eighth's time, was, by the unwearied diligence of the priests and Jesuits, very much broke in upon and interrupted, so that it cannot be said to have been complete till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who had many and great struggles with the Papists.

Pratt, L.C.J., Thornby v. Fleetwood (1770), 1 Str. Rep. 375.

The discussion which was made by Luther, Melancthon, and the other persons who preceded the Reformation, opened the eyes or the public; and they got rid of the delusions which had been spread by the Pope of Rome, and emancipated mankind from the spiritual tyranny they were under, and brought about the establishment of that religion which we now enjoy in this country.

This venerable body of men (the clergy) being separate and set apart from the rest of the people, in order to attend the more closely to the service of Almighty God . . . had formerly much greater privileges, which were abridged at the time of the Reformation on account of the ill-use which had been made of them.

The spectacle of a clergyman imprisoned for persistence in illegal ritualistic practices may shock the public conscience, and raise sympathy for a man who really deserves none, while the spectacle of a man suspended after due warning from an office, the laws attaching to which he disregards, or from a benefice obtained under conditions which he will not fulfil, is one which must commend itself to every reasonable man.